Stress, Detox and my intro to Traditional Chinese Medicine
When I met with Catherine Niemiec, JD, L.Ac., founder and president of the
Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture, she was having an
acupuncture treatment done. She had some needles in her ear as a way to
decompress after a long day at work. She explained, “It’s the same
treatment they give for detox and in fact in Miami, Florida, the five
point protocol is mandated by the courts. Drug addicts have a choice,
acupuncture or jail.” Catherine was referring to Miami Drug Court, which,
in 1990, was one of the first drug court models in the country to use
acupuncture as an adjunct therapy to substance abuse treatment for
first-time drug offenders.
As an interesting aside, the use of acupuncture to help with drug
withdrawals was a serendipitous discovery by Hong Kong neurosurgeon Dr.
Wen. In 1972, Dr. Wen used acupuncture (electrical stimulation of needles)
as anesthesia to treat some surgical patients. He gave patients
acupuncture treatments over a course of weeks prior to and during surgery.
Unbeknownst to Dr. Wen some of his patients were drug addicts. When the
patients later disclosed that they had lost their drug cravings during
acupuncture, Dr. Wen followed up with acupuncture treatments specifically
for opium and heroin addicts. News of Dr. Wen’s work lead another
physician, Dr. Smith from Lincoln Hospital in New York, to develop the
five point protocol, which is also called by those who developed it, the
“NADA protocol”
The National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) website,
acudetox.com, provides the best explanation of the five-point or NADA
protocol, “The NADA protocol involves inserting tiny, sterilized needles
in 3 to 5 acupuncture points on each ear and retaining those needles for
up to 45 minutes to relieve withdrawal symptoms. It also relieves symptoms
of stress.” In a separate pilot study, researcher L.C. Russell, et al
attributed the procedure’s effectiveness for its ability to “reduce
cravings, anxiety and dysphoria of withdrawal in addicted patients.”
Russell even noted that some patients who completed their addiction
programs still returned for “boosters” to receive the stress reduction
benefit. For Catherine Niemiec, the NADA protocol was a way to help her
relax and be in the present. Niemiec explained the NADA protocol works on
the liver and the parasympathetic system. In Traditional Chinese Medicine
(TCM), the liver is associated with regulating the flow of energy. The
parasympathetic system plays a role in reducing heart rate and blood
pressure, thus, stilling the mind and calming the nerves. And that was how
Niemiec began my introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
TCM is a comprehensive medical system that strives to maintain optimal
balance of Qi or energy in the body. Niemiec explained, “In Chinese
medicine, there are 5 main systems that create harmony in the body: water,
wood, fire, metal and earth. Later, these systems were renamed after
organs: kidney, liver, heart, lung, spleen. Each organ corresponds with a
physiological function. For example, the earth or spleen is associated
with the digestive system. The spleen creates pure energy from impure
energy (food and drink). Where the stomach digests food for energy, the
spleen raises up the energy and builds blood and also works against the
effects of gravity by holding things up and containing blood in its
vessels.” Niemiec elaborated, not only are these five organs associated
with physiological function, but they are also associated with emotions.
“Chinese medicine takes emotions into account,” says Niemiec. In fact, in
TCM, emotions, environment (seasonal changes, weather, etc) food and
heredity are all considered when trying to restore balance. To do this,
practitioners use five different modalities: acupuncture, Chinese herbs,
body work (acupressure and Qi Gong) nutrition and meditation. Altogether,
Traditional Chinese Medicine is a holistic system that focuses on
optimizing a person’s well being.
